Transformers Loops
by SeaofFallingStars
Summary: The Transformers and their endless wars are now part of the loops. May Yggdrasil handle it safely.
1. Vectored In

Transformers is owned by Hasbro and TakaraTomy jointly. It is licensed to whoever is making the shows and/or comics at the time. I own nothing, nor do the talented folks writing these loops.

1.0 by Crisis

Vector Prime knew that something was wrong with reality. He'd known it for a while now.

For one thing, he was now even more aware of and able to enter other dimensions. Which led to him realizing that the multiverse he was a part of seemed to have unexpectedly... shrunk for lack of a better term. Oh, the myriad of realities were still there, but only a handful were... 'active' at any given time. Often just one or two, but sometimes it could reach as many as half a dozen at once.

Which led to the other fact he'd come to realize. Time was resetting itself every so often. Events would reach a point and then start over from an earlier point and repeat themselves. There were changes of course, which was to be expected, but the implications were clear.

"Safeguard," he told his minicon companion, the only other being in the multiverse who was privy to his knowledge, "I have concluded that time itself has somehow been damaged, perhaps even broken. We must locate the cause and affect a solution before matters get worse."

"Yeah," an unknown voice penetrated the void outside time and between dimensions that Vector Prime resided in, "I'd advise against that."

The guardian of time and space turned to behold... a human female? Of odd appearance, to be sure – he deduced it was the 'punk' fashion some humans liked, complete with numerous metal bits threaded through selected areas of flesh – but still an impossibility in his location. Humans were not designed to be able to survive in this area unaided.

"What are you?" he asked the interloper, Safeguard beeping a similar sentiment.

"My name is Pandora," the female announced.

"The woman from human myth who opened the box containing all the world's ills?" Vector raised an eyebrow.

"It was a pithos," the Pandora entity crossed her arms and huffed, "a type of jar. Honestly, someone mistranslates something once and you hear about it for eternity. But, yes, that's me."

"I am curious as to how you have lived this long if you are indeed she," Vector inquired. "I was under the impression that human lifespans were much shorter."

"My 'parents', depending on how you want to define the term, realized what a raw deal I'd gotten and arranged for me to ascend to the divine level and become a god instead of the pantheon's personal whipping mortal," the woman claimed. "Not that it's done my reputation any good... Sure, the head gods told me not to open the damn thing, but they also cursed me with a compulsion to do exactly what they'd told me not to. It was like a burning itch every time I saw the damn thing until I couldn't take it anymore. I'd have accepted being eaten alive just to finally freaking know what was in it. Not that they told 'mom' and 'dad' that's what I was meant for when they ordered my 'parents' to make me out of clay."

"My apologies," Vector offered.

"Sorry," Pandora accepted. "It's still a touchy subject with me, but I shouldn't take it out on you. Anyway, I'm the divine-level administrator, god for short, assigned to your multiversal 'branch' of Yggdrasil. That's the world tree or the computer, however you prefer to think of it, that contains and runs all of creation."

"Indeed," Vector prodded.

"Yep," the self-proclaimed god nodded. "And I'm sorry for popping down unannounced, but you were about to do something... ill-advised. And believe me, I know ill-advised."

"I was merely intending to locate and correct whatever anomaly has caused time to be broken," the ancient transformer declared.

"Yeah, that," Pandora informed him. "Look, I know it's hard for someone like you to swallow, but you can't fix this. You're, what, a four-dimensional existence? Three and a half? While you're feeling the effects, the actual problem is... significantly higher up the chain. Around my level of dimensional existence."

"And that is?" Vector inquired.

"I'm not allowed to say," Pandora told him. "No, really. I'm physically incapable of speaking the words while I'm down here. Part of the geas in my job description I have to agree to if I wanna zip myself up small enough to enter your universe."

Vector gave the woman an unbelieving look.

"Okay," she sighed. "Think of it like this. Your boys Primus and Unicron, they're a much bigger existence than you are, right?" At Vector's nod, she continued. "So big, in fact, that they have to act through avatars of themselves to pretty much do anything. In essence, they fit inside your reality, but only just. Me and the other admins are even higher than that. If we want to come down and talk to people like you, we've gotta zip-up our essence into a smaller dimensional package or we won't fit period."

"What you say makes sense," Vector admitted, "but it does not explain why I shouldn't fulfill my duty as the guardian of time and space and work to correct this anomaly."

"Because you can't see it," Pandora insisted. "And even if you could, you can't comprehend it. Any more than a theoretical one-dimensional being could comprehend what you are. The problem's on a higher plane of existence. And even if all that wasn't an issue, you're not experienced or trained enough to where you could make a positive difference anyway. I and the other admins are."

"And what are you doing to fix the anomaly that is causing time to repeat itself?"

"Er..." Pandora hedged. "The Loops, which is the phenomena of repeating time you mentioned, is the fix. Or they at least prevent things from getting worse while we work. They're a last-ditch fail-safe to keep reality running and not collapsing into non-existence while we fix the real problem. You see, Yggdrasil was damaged by... something. Very badly. The Loops are the only thing keeping the system running right now. Stopping them would be bad."

Vector stood silent for a moment as he turned the information over in his mind. There was no evidence that she was correct, but nor was there any that she was incorrect. Proceeding in any fashion without further information would be ill-advised. Still, if reality had been broken that badly...

"What is it that Unicron did?" he asked the supposed goddess.

"Huh?" Pandora looked confused. "Unicron? Nothing. The office has known about him and what he's capable of since your branch was new. We've got all sorts of safeguards in place to prevent known quantities from doing the kind of damage to reality that happened. Especially ones like Unicron. So, really, we don't know exactly what, or who, is responsible for the current mess."

"So what should I do then?" Vector Prime asked the woman. "You have dissuaded me, at least until further information has been obtained, from seeking my own solution to the matter. But I remain the guardian of time and space. The integrity and stability of the multiverse is part of my duties."

"I know!" Pandora exclaimed cheerfully. "You're the first Anchor with actual experience relevant to the position!"

"Anchor?" Vector's confusion got the better of him.

"Oh, right," Pandora blinked. "I didn't mention that yet. Anyway, to fuel the Loops, Anchors are needed. Preferably one per branch, but some branches had to be divided into sections each with their own Anchor. But that's another matter. Anyway, you're the Anchor for your entire branch of Yggdrasil. Essentially, you are the pillar holding up you branch so it doesn't collapse into nonexistence. Plus you're the first Anchor we've been able to use to run multiple iterations with! Of course, I had to pull dad away from trying to activate his own branch to code it up for me, but still... I think he liked the challenge though. And he needed to step away from trying to untangle the current mess he's saddled with for a bit anyway."

Vector Prime blinked, a question forming in his processor, but the woman interrupted.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about dying," she told him. "Worst that'll happen is the current Loop iterations terminate early and a new Loop begins a bit sooner than usual. Heck, you could be physically erased or blow up the whole universe and Wake Up just fine for the next time. Though we'd prefer you avoid causing temporal paradoxes. Yggdrasil's system doesn't quite handle those as well as it did before it was damaged. You and your branch would be fine of course, but it means more paperwork I really don't need to be filling out. So just stay metaphysically stable and as sane as you can manage. Oh, and don't ever ascend to the divine level. Your dimensional level would be too big to fulfill your position as an Anchor and basically cause your whole branch to collapse into nonexistence."

"Actually, I was going to ask 'why me?'," Vector informed the woman. "Why not Primus himself? Or even Vector Sigma? Surely both would be better choices."

"Well," Pandora considered her answer for a moment, "remember how I said Primus only just fits in your branch? He may be a small enough dimensional existence to fit as-is, but he's still too big a dimensional existence to arrange the way he'd need to be to Anchor your branch. And Vector Sigma's technically part of Primus, so that's a double strike. Even if the portion was small enough to position correctly, only a full entity is... let's say 'structurally sound'... enough to hold up reality."

"And I take it I shall be the only one who remembers what happens in these Loops?" Vector asked, only for Safeguard to beep accusingly at him. "And my trusted companion of course."

"Huh?" Pandora looked confused. "Oh, no. Not at all. Actually, because of how dad had to code you as an Anchor there are a few additional loopers already Awake and retaining memories and abilities of the Loops they were Awake for. Because that's one of the things the Loops let you do. Keep any memories or abilities you gain while Awake in them. Did I not mention that?"

"No," Vector informed her flatly. "No you did not."

"Eh, I've always been a little scatterbrained," Pandora shrugged. "It's a remnant of how I was wired when I was mortal. Drives mom up the wall. I think dad kind of relates though. Any other questions?"

"Who all could... Awaken to these Loops?" Vector inquired. "I hope not Unicron. He is dangerous enough as it is."

"Oh, no," Pandora waved the idea off. "He can't actually Awaken, but he's definitely Aware the Loops are happening. Him and Primus both. It's not something we could really hide from beings at their level. Beyond that... Heck, just about anyone really. Unexpected side effect of how dad coded the special settings that let you run multiple iterations at a time. We're not gonna be allowed to do that with any other branch I don't think. That answer everything?"

"I believe so," Vector admitted. "For now at least. In all actuality this may prove to be a reduction in my duties for the duration of these 'Loops'."

"Sweet!" Pandora grinned. "So, what are we gonna do first?"

Vector Prime blinked at the declaration. "Do you not have your duties to return to?"

"I'm on break," Pandora kept grinning. "For the rest of the Loop. Divine Union rules."

"Even so," Vector maintained, "I must still maintain my post as guardian of–"

"Ut-ut-ut!" the goddess interrupted. "You said it yourself. 'Reduction in duties'. You don't need to stay here all the time any more. And besides, the Loops are for trying new things and meeting new people! So let's get out there and make friends with all the good ones and bust up all the bad ones!"

Safeguard chirped his agreement.

"Et tu, my friend?" Vector stared at his mini-con companion. "Oh, very well. However, miss Pandora, I do not think your human incarnation is suitable for the battle zones we are likely to enter."

"Okay, give me a moment," the goddess stated before dissolving into light, and reappearing a moment later in a larger Cybertronian body.

The form was sleek and very feminine, while maintaining the... attitude... of her human avatar. And if Vector didn't miss his guess, her alternate form was a spaceship of some sort.

"How's this?" she winked at him, causing the ancient transformer to smile slightly and shake his head in surrender.

"It'll do."

1.1.1 by Starvos_Arcane, Crisis, Conceptulist

"He followed me home!" Ditzy Doo chirped happily at Princess Twilight Sparkle as most of Ponyville cowered back in their homes away from the wall-eyed pegasus's newest friend. "Can I keep him?"

"I suppose that depends on what Mr... What was your name again?" the newly ascended alicorn (well, newly ascended this Loop anyway) nervously asked the giant metal tyrannosaurus rex.

"Me Grimlock!" the robot dinosaur bellowed. "Me meet friendly muffin pony in forest! Muffin pony nice to Grimlock! Grimlock want to stay with muffin pony!"

'Oh, boy,' Twilight mentally groaned as she tried to figure out how much collateral damage Ponyville was going to suffer this Loop.

"Me Grimlock be... am... Me Grimlock am being very... muchly..."

"I am the very model of a Robot Dino-General."

"...purple pony stress Grimlock processors."

1.2 by KageX

"Well this is new"

As the memories of his current "baseline" in this loop came into focus he could only reflect on one thing.

"As if people comparing me to Optimus was not bad enough".

And so the former dock worker known as Hot Rod took up the mantle of "Rodimus Prime" to do battle with the newly risen Decepticon Army.

1.3 by Zap Rowsdower

Bumblebee was confused. They had woken up from five million years of stasis lock only days ago, and Optimus Prime had spent the entire time pouring over the Ark's safety systems, building weapons and retrofitting himself with... something. He hadn't left to help fend off the Decepticon attack on that oil rig - uncharacteristically single-minded of him. He'd even been on Teletran 1 several times, talking to the troops back on Cybertron, although nobody had managed to hear what he was actually saying.

"So, Optimus, what are you doing, exactly?"

Optimus' faceplate twitched. To a stranger, it may have looked like nothing; to one familiar with the Autobot commander, it was clearly a grin.

"What, and ruin the surprise? Teletraan 1 says the Decepticons are attacking Sherman Dam. Autobots, you'll find your new equipment on the table by the main exit. Transform, and roll out!"

The battle had been devastating. The entire Decepticon army lay broken on the ground, twitching and sparking. Soundwave, twitching occasionally from fried circuits, was tending to his Casseticons like a worried mother; the Seekers were scattered about like autumn leaves. Reports from Cybertron were already coming in, relayed from Soundwave by radio inbetween tender ministrations to the wounded Ravage; the battle on Cybertron, stalemate for eons, was lost. Megatron, his weapons malfunctioning and his voice warbling, could barely speak, but forced it nevertheless.

"Optimus, I... surrender. The war is yours. Cybertron is yours. I offer to let you rebuild us as non-combat models, like yourselves, if only you will repair my people from this nightmare you've unleashed, and swear an oath upon the Matrix that, like the humans, we shall ban chemical weapons. In any case, this makes it clear that civilian model equipment such as yours is by far the superior weapon."

Again, Optimus Prime's faceplate twitched in a grin. His voice sounded slightly odd, as if he was suppressing laughter.

"Why, certainly, Megatron. I thought you'd never ask. Fire-retardant foam is truly a terror, I can only wonder why my researchers never thought to make active use of it before - but we won't again."

'This loop', Optimus added mentally.

"Autobots, transform and roll out to Washington, we have formal terms of surrender in need of a third party government to moderate and we've got trade deals for energy to make! When we're finished, you're all free to return to civilian life and take a much needed vacation- I can't wait to spend a few stellar cycles at that resort on the Sea of Rust!"

Naturally, reactions were a mix of baffled gaping stares and cheers, from both Autobot and Decepticon alike.

1.4 by OathtoOblivion

Carnage. That was all that was seen on the battlefield as Bruticus rampaged. Optimus ducked under blaster fire and took cover next to Ironhide. "Blast! Without the Aerialbot or the Protectobots, we're at a severe disadvantage! Where's Wheeljack with his secret project?!"

Ironhide was about to reply, when he noticed what was coming up behind them. "Uh... Prime? You may want to look behind you." Optimus turned... and saw the Dinobots in their Beast Modes. But only four of them were currently there, and they looked a bit different. It was then that Wheeljack ran up. "Prime! It took some doing, but I managed to refit a Combiner system into the Dinobots! It's untested though, so I have no idea what may happen!"

Optimus considered this, before a blast from Bruticus blasted into their cover. "We don't have many options, Wheeljack. It'll have to do." He then turned to the refitted Dinobots. "Dinobots, now would be an opportune to use the Combiner system."

Grimlock nodded. "Me Grimlock agree, Optimus. Snarl! Swoop! Slag! It time!" The four Dinobots got into formation and yelled, "Raiden Kamitsuki Gattai!"

Together, they combined and proceeded to lay into Bruticus. Unbeknownst to Optimus and the others though, the shared personality of Raiden Kyoryuzin had inherited Grimlock's propensity for Spark-songs, and started singing.

1.5 by KrisOverstreet

"Wheeljack... no. Just no."

"But Optimus," the Autobot in question said, "Mad Scientist me said, 'The goodwill of Earth's government is nice and all, but what about product placement?' And the majority vote of the rest of us said it was a good idea."

Optimus Prime looked at his doppelganger, hands on hips. His face shield was set in a position of unmistakable disapproval.

"Pepsi Convoy? Really?"

"You would not BELIEVE the dough those guys put up."

The truck in front of them revved its engines and honked its horn. The oversized soda bottle on its trailer gleamed in the desert sun.

"Wheeljack, when was the last time you saw that therapist? I thought she was making progress."

"Can't get an appointment with her before the Loop ends. She's booked sold." Wheeljack leaned over to his boss and whispered, "You may not have noticed this, boss, but there aren't that many of us, Autobots or Decepticons, playing with a full DLL."

Optimus couldn't argue with such a blatant truth, so he remained silent.

"Besides, what's the problem? If you're feeling left out, this Earthling restaurant chain named Burger King left me a contract- they want you to do a TV ad for them."

Optimus counted to ninety-one. Remember, he thought, Bounty Hunter Wheeljack is the sanest out of all the voices in that head...

The couch was very, very, very large. So was its occupant.

"All I really want is a little respect for my skills," Starscream said. "I don't even want to be leader that badly, except it's the only way to prove you're any good. Anywhere else in the hierarchy, your superiors take credit for your work and blame you for their faults. I know I've played that game- and played it well, too," he said with a little bit of pride. "But in the end it just leaves me feeling... hollow inside."

The analyst took down notes, but less than half her mind was on the putatively evil robot's ramblings. More than half was on the fact that she was in her fourth warehouse-clinic in two months. Psychoanalyzing Transformers might be a lucrative job, but it was also very, very destructive. Granted, the destruction of her last office had been her fault. Group therapy for the Stunticons had turned out to be a truly horrible idea...

1.6 by OathtoOblivion, Crisis, Conceptulist

Grimlock sighed. Interviews for more Dinobots weren't going too well. "*sigh*, Grimlock sorry Mecha-Godzilla, but you no qualify to be Dinobot. You Kaijin and you no can transform. Me Grimlock appreciate effort you put in though, so you can be reserve Dinobot, that okay?" The silver Godzilla copy hung his head and mumbled "O-K," before lumbering off.

Grimlock shook his head. Ever since he, Swoop, Snarl and Slag had Looped into Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger as the Zyudenryu and gotten a much better Combiner Form than... THAT MONSTROSITY, they had been attempting to build up the ranks of the Dinobots so that they could pull off all of the Combinations. The Dinobots as a whole tended to Loop into other Dino-mecha related areas rather frequently, so he was hoping to have all of them active in a Kyoryuger Loop. But without someone to fill Zakutor's slot, they wouldn't be able to use Gigant Kyoryuzin! And that was eating at him significantly. He looked down at his schedule; one more appointment for the day before he had to pack it up. "Next!" he called out.

The door opened an in came... a Velociraptor? He looked a bit different from the agreed on version of one though; no feathers and human-sized. "Who you?" asked Grimlock.

The Velociraptor smirked, and input his transformation activation code. "Dinobot, Maximize!"

Grimlock arched a servo. "'Maximize'? You a Maximal. What you doing in G1 loop?"

Dinobot shrugged. "It's a Fused Loop; weirder things have happened."

Grimlock considered this. "True. Now, what make you think you can be Dinobot... other than obvious?"

Dinobot's smirk began to turn to a look of condescension as Grimlock spoke. "Well, besides the name, I am a bit of an intellectual. A trait I believe I would be a valuable asset in increasing the overall effectiveness of the Dinobots as it appears to be something currently lacking."

Grimlock got very quiet at that. So, the prospective hire wanted to play it that way did he?

"I know not how you became the leader of such a decorated outfit. I graduated top of my class from the finest military academy on Cybertron. What about..." Dinobot trailed off as the immense form of Grimlock stood and drew himself to his full height, "...you?"

Grimlock loomed over the maximal who had come in to apply for membership and instead insulted his intelligence. He then did something he hadn't done for a long, long, long time. He diverted a large amount of processing power to his voicebox.

"Do you know how much effort it takes for me to speak like this, little maximal?" the leader of the Dinobots spoke with perfect grammar. "How much focus I must put forth in order to overcome the one true flaw in my body? My speech is often slurred, plebeian, and in the third person, but make no mistake that the mind behind it is as keen as any you have ever met or ever will. I am not the general of the Dinobots solely for my strength and you would do well to remember it."

"I... Yes sir," Dinobot replied with utmost respect and sincerity. "An honor, sir."

"Good," Grimlock stated as he sat down and returned his systems to normal. "Other bots think Grimlock stupid. Grimlock let them make mistake. Is good tactical asset. But you want join Dinobots, and Dinobots know better. Now, what make you Dinobot qualified for membership?"

"Well, I DO have a rather extensive resume I created expressly for this occasion," the maximal said, bringing out... a scrapbook?

Grimlock looked at him strangely, before opening the book. His lenses refocused as he saw what was in the book, before he started laughing uncontrollably. "AH HAH HAHAH HA! Me Grimlock love this... This... pure gold!"

Dinobot continued to smirk. "I thought you might appreciate it. I specifically recommend the third one on the right on page 15." Grimlock turned to the appropriate page and began laughing even harder.

"HAH! Brilliant!" Grimlock laughed, wiping some leaking oil from his visor. "Alright. You convince Grimlock! Welcome to Dinobots, Dinobot!" They shook hands to commemorate the occasion.

"Ah yes, I did have one more thing to talk about in regards to my application."

"What that?"

"I once beat the Energon out of a T-Rex version of Megatron when he had higher specs and I was on the verge of rejoining the All-Spark with a rock and a stick."

"...You now third-in-command."

1.1.2 by Starvos_Arcane, Crisis, Conceptulist

Optimus Prime took a moment to quietly reflect on the current Loop. The fire truck incarnation may not have been his 'real' self, but he was actually a bit fond of it to tell the truth. The concept of the public servant aiding in times of danger and mostly fading from view when there were no problems was one he related to quite well.

Of course it meant having to deal with the 6-or-10-changer version of Megatron again.

"Sir?" the voice of the local version of Prowl entered into his thoughts. "I'm sorry to bother you, but Wheeljack's been acting funny lately. We're hoping it's nothing, but he's kind of creeping everyone out to tell the truth. Maybe you could talk with him?"

Optimus sighed to himself. Wheeljack had begun looping a while back and he... hadn't taken it well. The differences in his different versions had affected his mind to the point that he'd begun manifesting multiple personalities, with the one in control not always matching his local history either.

And there normally wasn't a version of Wheeljack in this particular variant. Optimus could only imagine how that was going over for the already mentally unbalanced transformer. Wheeljack's personalities could potentially be at war with each other over who got to be in control.

"Very well," the leader of the Autobots commanded. "Take me to him."

Optimus stared in complete and utter shock at the scene before him. He had been expecting something crazy to happen, this was after all when Wheeljack activated the dinobots for the first time in the baseline. Even in variants or other timelines the dinobots almost always caused mayhem and property damage when they first activated.

But Optimus Prime had never witnessed something like this. By the Matrix, he didn't think anyone was prepared for Grimlock to burst into song upon activation.

"Me am the very model of a Robot Dino-General,

Me have information artificial, natural, and astronomical,

Me know Me king of Dinosaurs, and Me fight the foes barbarian

From Decepticons to Quintessons, to even sub-Atlanticans;

Me very well acquainted, too, with matters most combatical,

Me understand the battle plans, both simple and tactical,

About Overwhelming force, Me teeming with a lot o' news,

With many cheerful facts about the things I'll do and the stuff I'll use.

Me very good at thwarting the creations of the Primacron;

Me usurped Quintesson control to be king of the Sharkticons:

In short, in matters artificial, natural, and astronomical,

Me Grimlock am the very model of a Robot Dino-General."

'The son of a toaster is looping! there's no other explanation for the smug look on his face' Prime decided.

"How long have you been looping?" Optimus Prime asked Grimlock once he'd gotten the Dinobot leader alone in his office.

"Grimlock not sure," said individual shrugged. "Spent most early Loops trashing Decepticons! No matter how many Grimlock smash, they always back for more next time! Grimlock had many good time smashing all Decepticons!"

'This might explain the last tandem run we had with the G.I. Joes,' Optimus thought to himself.

"Grimlock just get back from Loop where he met the muffin pony!" the Dinobot sounded immensely pleased with himself. "Friend muffin pony teach Grimlock many fun things! Like singing from Grimlock spark!"

'Oh, Prime,' Optimus groaned to himself. Huh. Must have picked up more than he thought the last time he and Primal switched places.

1.7 by Crisis

If Megatron ever wanted to try and prove that the Loops had a warped sense of humor, this iteration would be Exhibit... J or K. There had been a lot of strange Loops after all.

As it was, he was the head of the Inspecticon Detective Agency in a Loop setting a human might have called the illegitimate offspring of film noir and steampunk. Where he and all other machine lifeforms were of comparable size to humans.

"Well, Mr. Light," he told the figure on the other side of his desk, "it seems you are indeed quite qualified for the position."

Oh, and had he mentioned that he was in the middle of a job interview?

"Thank you," the very human-like robot replied.

"I am concerned with this list of additional skills however," he continued. "They are, shall we say, rather improbably long for someone of your age."

"Let's just say I spend a fair amount of time Awake," the potential hire told him.

Megatron blinked at the inflection. So, the prospective hire was a looper, eh?

"Megatron, sir!" Starscream burst into the office, frantic but respectful.

There was another big, but not unpleasant, difference. The local, and Unawake, version of Starscream still coveted Megatron's position. But the agency's rules and position on the side of the law meant that he did this by making himself the most indispensible member of the agency. Loyal, competent, able, and most of all no backstabbing. Just the occasional hint that Megatron should think about retirement. Even the local Soundwave, elite information hound that he was, had proven less useful in their investigations.

And for Starscream to be this frantic, it could only mean one thing. The one mobster who Megatron's Loop memories told him he'd dedicated his life to putting behind bars, and sworn not to retire until successful. The local mob boss version of his oldest enemy.

"We just got a new case! High profile murder, and it looks like the work of Optimus Crime's gang!"

"Get Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback from forensics together Starscream," he ordered calmly. "Have them ready to leave in five minutes."

Starscream saluted and left the office, allowing him to turn back to the prospective hire. "It looks like you're in luck Mr. Light. I'm prepared to hire you provisionally for the duration of this new case. If your work on it is acceptable then I will hire you to a permanent position. Is this acceptable?"

"Quite," the new hire agreed.

"Then," Megatron stood up and held out his hand, "allow me to welcome you to the Inspecticons Mr. Light."

"Please," the shades-and-scarf-wearing individual replied as he shook Megatron's hand, "call me Blues."

1.8 by Myself

Wreck It, don't Rule It:

Wheeljack always felt that some of his fellow Wreckers had been off. Roadbuster had a fetish for exotic weapons; their 'leader' was a big stuck up; and the three who dragged him along…. It was disturbing.

First, there was Whirl. The thin psycho seemed to believe that Magnus was a guy in armor and used to serve on a colossal ship called the Lost Light. Second, there was Leadfoot. This one put Bulk to shame in his girth, and his red and black deco had logos in a language he hadn't seen. Finally, there was Railspike. He didn't seem to belong in the first place, but he kept everyone together. Apparently, he normally had only two arms and legs, rather than the four of both he currently had [think ROTF Overload]. Their ship had sought him out somehow, and dragged him aboard.

Now, on course to where Bulkhead was, he found that Railspike always looked to him with pity.

"Alright claws, what's with the sad face? Did I crack in some manner you've seen but I don't remember?"

"You're not Awake, so I can't tell you why."

Leadfoot was busing making sure the engines could outpace an Omega-class cruiser, after the run-in with Bludgeon's ship, the Starpuncher. Why the three of them blew that one up he had no idea.

~Bang Bang Bang~

Cliffjumper was stuck on patrol with Optimus himself. Normally this wasn't that bad, were it not for visiting Fowler at the Unit:E Base. The big rig took him along since apparently one of his friends was on a ship nearing atmosphere.

"Prime! Why in the name of Monument Valley is there a large Autobot ship crewed by four guys who call themselves The Wreckers, and demanding that you get some guy named Ultra Magnus planetside in our atmosphere?"

"The Wreckers… Which four? Last time I saw the roster the majority were no more. This might be a Decepticon trick."

"A guy named Wheeljack, some sort of weapons maestro named Leadfoot, a thin bird of a 'bot called Whirl and Railspike, who seems like a behemoth even amongst your kind."

Leadfoot was alive!? Last time Cliffjumper had seen him he was blown apart by his own ammunition carried in his gut.

"Sweet Solus and Micronus! Optimus, we have to get these guys planetside pronto-like. Bulk'll be happy to see his old team and I get to meet one of my old friends."

Optimus rubbed his head, before turned to Fowler on his catwalk.

"Help me come up with landing coordinates, and I will greet these Wreckers. At least one of them is supposed to be dead, and I attended his funeral."

~Bang Bang Bang~

"Hello Earth! Didja miss us?"

"Can it Whirl, 'less yer a twin of Roadbuster again. And if ye are, I ain't bailin' you out after he dies."

"Both of you, QUIET! We have to deal with Optimus, and I know Leadfoot is supposed to be dead. Wheeljack, how's the connection to the Terran DATANET coming?"

He had no idea how these three met; according to his memories Railspike hated Whirl and Leadfoot was blown up! At least his knack for mechanics meant they all could get Earthern wheels soon. Leadfoot, as it turned out, already had Earth wheels. Whirl was busy using his claws to find a suitable gunship mode, while Railspike had simply found a utilitarian locomotive in his colors and left it at that. As they touched down (Leadfoot complained that he never got to crash anything anymore), Wheeljack saw four Autobots waiting for them; the Prime, Bulk, a blue and pink femme, and a red guy.

"Greetings, Wreckers… I did not realize you had already scanned Terrestrial vehicles."

"We jus' tapped inta th' local DATANET and picked some good 'uns boss."

"What Leadfoot means to say sir is that we chose out alternate forms based on what existed that appealed to us… Or rather, most of us did. Whirl, did you have to pick the Orca Gunship?"

"Bite me Railspite!"

Arcee put her hand to her face; this would not be pleasant for a long time.

Notes:

1.0 Well, something had to start it. Why 1.0? Because this is before anyone else awakens and Vector is now an anchor despite being a ship that doesn't need one

1.1.1 Dinobots+Friendship is Magic = ?

1.2 Well now he isn't under a shadow...

1.3 This stuff is akin to a real nasty chemical attack for these guys

1.4 Kyoryuger Dinobots. Makes sense if you think about it

1.5 Wheeljack is having it bad even by looping standards. Five separate versions of yourself in your head? Dude's now a quint!

1.6 So who did they find for Parasagun?

1.1.2 It equals funny! Could be worse

1.7 Optimus Crime!? Competent Starscream!? Megatron and the Decepticons as Cops!? I want to read more, how about you?

1.8 Whirl is now a looper. Pandora is in so much trouble over this.


	2. Me Grimlock

I do not own Transformers; it is jointly owned by TakaraTomy and Hasbro. It is licensed to whoever is making the fiction at the time.

2.1 by Leonite

Naruto grinned to himself. This was different at least. He had gone through what was a pretty baseline second task of the Chunin Exams... and Team 7 had been immediately assigned to what they called the "Psych" Corps afterwards, apparently the standard for ninja who meet Orochimaru. Sasuke was awake, Sakura wasn't... but he had felt at least three other pings.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

He grinned a bit more. The three had been waiting in a circular room with one entrance and four other doors, one of which was the way they came in. Of course, Naruto had asked Kakashi what was so special about the Psych corps. Kakashi had simply said "You have to be able to take punishment if you deal with ninja." And simply left it at that.

Still as an ANBU agent guided him towards one of the doors he was curious. Was it one of the ponies again? Ranma maybe, he had been mentioning something about Martial Arts Psychology? Heck, he'd probably guess Usagi if it wasn't for the fact she's more likely to use her attacks to purify people than sit still.

As he stepped through the door and it was subsequently shut behind him Naruto could say that for once in his life he was speechless.

"Me Grimlock psychologist!"

2.2 by Myself

Optimus was left wondering if his optics were working properly. Ultra Magnus had arrived with several of the railbots, but didn't look like he normally did. Coupled with…

"Ultra Magnus, why are you larger than Grimlock and orange?"

"I'd rather not say Optimus. Meet Railspike, Steamhammer, Throttle, Switchplate, Tankor and Rapid Run. As for what happened to us… Either Vector has a cruel sense of humor or we've honestly become mildly omnicombinational trains."

The seven Autobots were joined by a strange looking Grimlock, plus an even larger maroon Autobot.

"Me Grimlock now dinosaur train!"

2.3 by Leonite

Sentinel Prime sighed as he approached Optimus. Such a waste of a good soldier. He had come at him with no back up and had been no match for his Primax Blade. "You would let Cybertron die out for these humans? These organics?" He demanded... to a dying Autobot. He sighed. "Such a waste. To think that I have to destroy such a fine soldier because he's too arrogant to recognize that we are at risk!"

"We are strong..." Optimus groaned out. "Sacrificing these humans, enslaving them... it makes us no better than the Fallen."

"And it's such distinctions that made the Decepticons. That has had us squabbling when we should have been focusing on restoring our race... at any cost." Sentinel shook his head. "You will die Optimus. Not a martyr for these humans or as an Autobot hero. You will go down as a traitor to all Cybertronians simply because you were arrogant enough to think another race deserved protection from-"

Sentinel Prime never finished his sentence as a blue shape leaped over Optimus, transforming mid jump into a blue monster truck with an attached snow plow. The transformer slammed Sentinel Prime into the ground and pinned him to the ground... before he shifted and transformed, revealing a blue and silver soldier with a large chin but a powerful physique. Said transformer glared at the wayward Prime. "Arrogance? You have the gall to call Optimus arrogant?" The blue transformer asked. "He's not the one who's willing to ally with Decepticons, destroy an entire world and use organics as workers to rebuild Cybertron while calling himself a hero!"

Sentinel Prime growled, lashing upwards with his blade only for it to slam into a blue shield, glowing with energon. "Who are you to insist that my way is wrong? We are a dying race, and we will be restored by any means necessary!"

"Transformers are a strong race. It's Cybertron that is dying, not us. We would survive and live on as we have!" Sentinel lifted his cannon arm, hoping to blast the fool with his Cosmic Rust Cannon... only for a lance made of energy to be slammed down into his arm, striking straight through it. "You were just weak enough to give up on us finding our own way. We don't need the help of the organics... but we don't need to kill them off to fix our own mistakes! We are a strong race and we will rebuild our home ourselves."

Sentinel Prime lashed out with his blade again. "And you would allow Cybertron to die to do this sparkling?" He demanded. Each decleration followed another swing of his Primax Blade "You are not a Prime. You cannot comprehend what I have-"

The blue stranger slammed his shield into the blade, sending it flying. "My name is Sentinel Major," The stranger started. "For years I've been told by others that I seemed like the next Sentinel Prime. I took my name after you. Idolized you. I thought you were strong." He lifted the shield... the bladed shield up. "I don't want Cybertron to die. But I will not let us lose ourselves in the process."

"You have no right... you are not a Prime."

Sentinel Major grimaced at that. "And you're not even worthy of the name Prime," He spat, slamming the shield down on Sentinel Prime's neck... and like that, it was over. He looked to the sky and saw Cybertron disappear with a sigh.

"... so you did learn something from your time as Magnus." Sentinel blinked as he turned and looked around... and looked at Optimus. But when he did, he didn't see the battle hardened leader or diplomat he had seen all this time... but one more familiar. The glares he got on Earth. The loyalty in safeguarding his mistake. The determination of...

"Maintainence Prime?" Sentinel asked, a slight smirk crossing his face.

"Indeed," Optimus stated with a wheezed chuckle. "I'd give you a hand for your effort... but as you can see I already gave it to the other Sentinel." The two glanced down at Optimus's severed arm. Sentinel stepped over to Optimus... and held out his hand.

"Don't worry about it. You and I both know I'm liable to lose my head in situations like this," Sentinel remarked as a genuine smile crossed his face. Optimus grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled himself up. "So.. any chance you could tell me what the slag is going on with this nightmare?"

Optimus looked over and sighed. Sentinel followed his gaze and had to swallow back some oil. Megatron was frozen mid stride... and coated in cosmic rust. "Such a barbaric weapon," Optimus muttered, before transforming "Follow me Sentinel... I'll explain on the way." As Optimus drove off Sentinel Major, also known as Sentinel Prime and Sentinel Magnus (Acting Magnus, but it counted), looked over at the scattered Primax Blade... and then pulled his lance out of Sentinel Prime. As he did the rust seeped out of the cannon, performing it's last act as it eroded and at away at it's former master.

"It may be barbaric... but it's what he deserved." Sentinel muttered, even as he stored his weapons away before transforming and driving off.

2.4 by Crisis

"This the place Layla?" Virgil Hawkins, more commonly known most Loops as the electric hero Static asked his companion.

"Probably," the pacifistic plant-powered girl replied as she looked down at the comples. "We'll know more when Haku gets back from recon."

"Then you will not have long to wait," the ice ninja's voice startled the two. "It is indeed Dr. Syndrome's base of operations. It is quite the cunning plan of his, worthy of any villain from my home Loop. He has built engines of destruction that will be unleashed upon various population centers, whereupon he will unveil his defensive creations as a solution to the problem he has created and charge the nations of the world an exorbitant amount for them."

"Let me guess," Virgil smirked. "He's got plenty of both guarding the place."

"Indeed," Haku confirmed. "His plan is set to launch in a few hours. We have little time to waste."

"Okay," Layla giggled nervously, "we just have to go down there, fight past an army of killer robots, disable his launch sequence, and expose his plan to the world. Just like a semester back at my eternal high school."

"Sounds about right," Virgil nodded before turning to the final member of the multi-Loop team that had unexpectedly formed this time. It was an interesting change of pace. "What do you say, big guy?"

The massive robot considered the situation for a moment and Virgil could hear the grin his face wasn't capable of when he spoke.

"Me Grimlock say: Is clobbering time!"

2.5 by OathtoOblivion

Dinobot was confused. When he had Awoken this Loop, he had found himself on the bridge, where he usually Awoke. Now normally, this would mean that he'd follow the baseline script to see whether or not Optimus or any of the others were Awake this Loop or not. But something seemed very off...it was then that he noticed himself.

"WHY THE SLAG AM I HOT PINK?!"

Elsewhere, Megatron was grinning. Getting one over on Dinobot was always a good time. Especially considering he had to vent his annoyance from the Pennelor Battle anyway. Seriously, how do you get felled by a bag of rocks?! 'If I ever see Ricewind again, it'll be too soon...' he thought to himself.

2.1 Somehow, this doesn't seem like an uncommon occurrence.  
2.2 To follow up on the Kyoryuger Dinobots. Police, Fire, Build, Shield, and Drill Ressha are mostly unknown and will appear in a later loop. Build is Grimstone and Shield is Armorhide.  
2.3 Animated Sentinel is the better option. He draws the line far back from where this Sentinel did.  
2.4 There are several adjectives that fit here; take your pick.  
2.5 ...I got nothing.


End file.
